The fear of airborne attacks from the German bomber planes was so great that parents knew that to save their children they would have to send them away to live in the countryside, where risk of being bombed was obviously much lower due to population.

Due to the high volumes of children being evacuated selection was a very difficult time for the children. They were lined up by the billeting officers while the potential hosts took their pick as though choosing who they would want on their football team on the playground!

Of course, many of the people taking the children in gave them a loving home and treated them as one of the family. As children used to the confines of city life, the countryside proved a breath of fresh air, offering endless woods and fields to explore.

The children each took a suitcase with them to their new homes and we have replicated this with an evocative trove of belongings to shine a light on the trials and tribulations of the time. Selected with role play, enquiry, (and fascination) in mind.